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The heat is on October 28, 2007

Posted by joost in : directing , comments closed

Pre-production is in top gear now. Location hunting, casting, tweaking the script, talks about everything from the budget to how to build a projection screen.

It’s great to go through this process as a director this time. As a producer you worry constantly about everything, all the time, and the moment one thing is done a new challenge awaits. Pre-production feels much more relaxed as a director. This is partly because I have a great team of key people working with me. I have an experienced producer and 1st A.D.  and a Director of Photography who is really keen to figure out all kinds of technical challenges involved with the shoot. The fact that I’ve gone through this circus last time around is probably beneficial as well, I know what has to be done and that, no matter what will happen, “it will all come together” (TM).
I can focus on what’s important for me: finding the right cast, making sure that some of the technicalities required by the script are feasible but also don’t become goals by themselves, understanding every little detail in the script and coming up with the right type of shots that make the story work.

Three weeks from now we start shooting, a very exciting prospect! I’m curious to experience what the pressure will be like then. Right now it feels like a speeding train where the only thing you can do is just hold on. It’s a good kind of pressure. The heat is on.

More info on ‘my’ film October 15, 2007

Posted by joost in : LFA, directing, producing , comments closed

So what is the script about that I am going to direct? Tricky to answer, because it is now in a new phase of development where the writer and I try to focus the story and integrate my thoughts and ideas. This means the story will undergo changes. I also do not want to give away too much. That would spoil the surprise! ;-) But I do want to share some info for those of you who are interested.

It’s difficult to describe the exact genre, at the moment I categorize it as a (psychological?) drama set against a background of current wars in the Middle East.

This the synopsis that I have just written:
Dave is a British soldier who is sent to Iraq. He revisits choices that he has made that led to where he is now. Some questions hurt more than bullets.

The film will have to be carried by a young actor who features in every scene, half of them just him, no other actors.

Facts about the production:

Just received the latest draft of the script and I also have a ‘meeting’ with the Director of Photography on his and my ideas when it comes to the mood and lighting the film, back to work!

Pitching to direct and the aftermath October 9, 2007

Posted by joost in : LFA, directing , comments closed

Want to direct one of the 10 minute scripts? Fine. Prepare a pitch with your vision on the script and on how to bring this to life on the big screen. Think about the story, the characters, flaws, new ideas, possible actors, cinematography, locations, tone, genre, you name it. Oh, and tell all of this in about 5 minutes time – that is if you don’t get interrupted during the first minute, and get a range of questions fired at you by a panel of five experts.

That’s what happened today. Six prospective directors pitched their views on four selected scripts, with the requirement that you have to pitch for two scripts. This offers the LFA more options when appointing the director to a certain script, and it gives the students an extra 15 minute sweatfest opportunity to pitch.

In my case, I selected two scripts that I connected most with and that I’d like to direct (actually the two scripts that I already had an eye on at the start of the second term). I particularly liked the script “The Inquiry” and decided to spend most of my time preparing my pitch for this script.

During the day everyone was allocated two slots of 15 minutes for the pitches. Nervous of course right before it was time. Hearing others talk about how their pitch went, what difficult questions were being asked, how they tried to convince the panel with their ideas.
When it was my time for the first pitch, I was a bit tense, but also somewhat relaxed because I first pitched for my “second choice” script. Practice!

It went okay. I had room enough to talk about how I saw the script, key things that I would want to change and add to the story, and to show some visual representation of the feel of the film. The panel was quite worried about the current state of the script, so a lot of time was spent discussing thoughts and ideas on how to improve this. I left with a feeling that I was able to convey some of my ideas.

After some time I was up for my next pitch. Earlier on me and fellow students exchanged experiences, and came to the conclusion that when you’re relaxed and not too worried, the pitching seems to go more smoothly. And vice versa, when you really want to direct one particular script, you tend to get too eager and loose yourself and the pitch in all your passion.
Sure enough, that happened during my pitch. I so desperately wanted to direct this script! Last night I spent hours trying to come up with ways to solve some inherent problems in the script. In my enthusiasm – because I had found a way of redrafting the script – I rushed to the core of my pitch and ended up in a tough discussion about consequences of the changes that I proposed, and I could not seem to convince the panel members that this was for the better.
Some other quite well thought through motifs I came up with were met by mere nods and some scribbles on paper. “Tough crowd…”

I left the room a bit unsatisfied. It didn’t feel right, mainly because of the feeling that I had been unable to make my point.

The long wait was next. Me and three others left for the pub to bide our time. Around 5pm the final verdict would be announced, a good three hours away. A lot of talk about how the pitches went, predictions, speculations, nail biting, drinks.

The climax of this day is hard to describe. We came in expecting to hear who the four selected directors were. Instead we got to hear that one of our classmates was going to leave the film academy, and that this amongst other things meant that only three films would be made, with three attached directors. And that one of the scripts that people pitched for today would not go into production after all. This was my “second choice” script, so that pitch went up in smoke :-( And I wasn’t too sure about the other one :-(
Tension rose. “It was a hard decision to make, you all were well prepared and had good, distinct pitches.” Yada-yada-yada, you know those introductionary speeches where everyone wishes the speaker would just cut to the chase.
First film… to one of my classmates. Second film, “The inquiry”… Joost (!) Third film to the last lucky director.

I wanted to be happy, but I wasn’t. I wanted to celebrate, but I couldn’t. Everyone was taken aback by the fact that we would only do three instead of four final films (which in turn means you only get to work on two of these because of the crewing schedule), and the shared disappointment of three classmates who do not get to direct. After seven months you truly share the highs and the lows together.

What followed were a couple of surreal hours where we just hung in the pub, talking, silence, rehashing the pitches, discussing the reasons behind this sudden change in our curriculum, expressing doubts and anger with the film reduction that now overshadowed the selection of the directors.

Finally around 9 or 10 pm some genuine happiness started to surface about my successful pitch. Of course this is the script that I really wanted to direct, so actually getting to do it is great news, but the anti-climax was somewhat in the way.

A night of sleep helps. The next day I’m enjoying that I “won” the pitch, and people are congratulating me :-) I’m gonna direct a film that I really believe in!